The Haitian Governments of Memphis and Shelby County: Corruption, Collusion, and the Case for One Government- Government Gangsters Part 5
By Editorial Staff | Shelby County Observer on September 30, 2025
The Collapse of Accountability
MEMPHIS, TN — “Hyper public corruption is a combustible prescription for high crime rates in any city. But no one is discussing the public corruption crisis facing Memphis and Shelby County — not local political parties, and certainly not the press.”
— Joe B. Kent, Investigative Reporter
Memphis and Shelby County, once the symbol of Southern soul, cultural capital, and community strength — now finds itself teetering on the edge of complete administrative collapse. Like the worst examples of unstable foreign regimes, the city and surrounding Shelby County operate under what many insiders are calling “Haitian-style governance”: corruption unchecked, nepotism normalized, and taxpayers defrauded with impunity.
In recent months, federal officials have quietly taken notice. FBI Director Kash Patel, in a stunning national interview, referred to Memphis as “the homicide capital of America per capita.” This remark wasn’t made lightly. While American travelers are routinely warned not to visit Mexico City due to cartel violence, Memphis — whose crime rate is reportedly four times higher than Mexico City’s — remains untouched by any formal travel advisory. However, according to ESPN’s Steven A. Smith, NBA insiders whisper that the league’s players do not want to travel to Memphis, citing safety concerns and community instability.
At the root of this crisis is not just gang activity or broken schools — it is white-collar crime in plain sight. It is the hyper public corruption of Memphis and Shelby County’s ruling class, primarily led by Democratic officials who have gamified the system for personal gain.
According to Joe B Kent and many others, there is a direct link between white-collar fraud and street-level crime. When citizens see mayors and council members stealing in broad daylight, they adopt the same mindset: “If they can get away with it, why can’t I?”
This “monkey see, monkey do” culture has poisoned Memphis and Shelby County from the top down. And unless there is a moral reckoning — one that leads to resignations, prosecutions, or a restructuring of power — the city and county will fall deeper into violence, poverty, and civic decay.
The CFR §200.430(h) Scandal: $1,000 an Hour to the Mayor’s Favorite Consultants
According to federal regulation 2 CFR §200.430(h)(2), executive compensation for personnel on federal grants must not exceed the Executive Level II pay rate, currently capped at $106.68/hour as set by the U.S. Office of Personnel Management. Yet Mayor Paul Young and the Memphis City Council awarded TransPro CEO John Lewis a shocking $486/hour, COO Steve Hamelin $205/hour, and CFO Aaron Headly an unconscionable $1,000/hour or $40,000 per week.
This violates not just the letter but the spirit of federal law — designed to prevent precisely this kind of contractor abuse. This is taxpayer theft dressed as urban consulting.
These rates raise glaring red flags under 2 C.F.R. § 200.430, which demands that compensation for services under federally funded contracts be “reasonable and consistent with that paid for similar work in the labor market.”
A violation of federal law is not simply unethical—it’s criminal. When federal grant funds are involved, such extravagant rates can trigger violations under the False Claims Act (31 U.S.C. § 3729), Uniform Guidance (2 C.F.R. § 200.403–.405), and even criminal fraud statutes (18 U.S.C. § 287). In short, these are not just inflated consultant fees; they are potential federal crimes.
How to Waste $100 Million in One City
Like his counterpart Lee Harris, Mayor Young is not a businessman. He has never run a business. Yet he is recklessly greenlighting pay structures that would make Enron blush.
Yet, Governor Bill Lee has designated $100 million in public safety funds for Memphis — but without real oversight, that money might as well be a bucket of gasoline handed to the same arsonists who lit the fire. Instead of answering where the funds will go, Mayor Young stayed silent when, according to News 3 Memphis’ reporter April Thompson. They reached out — a silence louder than sirens. In a city plagued by backroom deals and sweetheart contracts, this grant risks becoming just another political slush fund disguised as a public safety plan.
Without strict oversight, the $100M risks becoming yet another jackpot for the same politically connected insiders who’ve already failed this city. Judge Lee Coffey put it best during a public courtroom proceeding regarding Shelby County Government jailed employee DeAndre Brown:
“I don’t know why, I don’t know how, am absolutely befuddled, absolutely befuddled, why the Shelby County Government, the Mayor, why the state of Tennessee, the Governor, the City of Memphis, would give money to a person to run a non-profit organization when they had been convicted of stealing money from a non-profit organization in the past. That is illogical, makes no sense at all.”
That exact mindset — rewarding convicted fraudsters with public dollars — is poised to repeat itself with this $100 million. Unless the state takes firm control and audits every dime, this grant will not make Memphis safer; it will simply super‑size the same corruption Judge Coffey warned us about.
If Mayor Paul Young hands this $100 million to 10 of his friends organizations at $1,000 an hour, here’s what that looks like:
- $1,000/hour × 10 people = $10,000 per hour
- $10,000/hour × 24 hours = $240,000 per day
- $240,000/day × ~417 days = $100 million — gone in just over a year
It’ll be gone before most Memphians even know who got hired — and Memphis will be left with nothing but receipts and regrets.
As Senator Brent Taylor might say:
“At this rate, the only thing getting safer in Memphis… is somebody’s bank account.”
The Corruption Blueprint: Millions for Friends, Nothing for Citizens
Memphis Mayor Paul Young, still within his first term, has become the poster child for governmental malpractice. Despite a PR campaign designed to convince residents that crime is falling, his narrative was blown apart by FBI Director Patel’s stark contradiction. The truth is undeniable: Memphis remains among the deadliest cities in America.
Why? Because city dollars aren’t going to proven crime-fighting strategies. Instead, they’re being funneled into the pockets of friends and political allies.
- Not one neighborhood in Memphis shows even a million dollars’ worth of tree overgrowth — yet four companies walked away with $250 million in trimming contracts. That’s not landscaping; that’s looting- many of which are allegedly owned by friends of the administration and former administration. If only tree trimmers could make arrests, Memphis would be the safest city in America.
- MATA consultants are earning $1,000 per hour while actual public services — sanitation, schools, and street patrol — go underfunded.
- A joint “More for Memphis” ordinance seeks to quietly funneled hundreds of millions of dollars to their politically connected donor(s).
And this is only the city side.
Over in Shelby County Government, Mayor Lee Harris staunchly defends convicted felon and friend DeAndre Brown, who was recently jailed again for stealing grant money through a nonprofit scam. Meanwhile, Memphis City Councilwoman Jerri Green—accused of corruption herself by Edmond Ford Jr—remains employed by Mayor Harris’ office. Even Commissioner Edmund Ford Jr., under multiple investigations, somehow manages to collect paychecks from both the city and county.
This isn’t public service. This is organized fraud masquerading as governance.
Shelby County’s Ethics Commission: A Symbol of Institutional Rot
“Never let ethics get in the way of corruption” could very well be the unofficial motto of Shelby County’s ruling class. Recent revelations confirm that the Shelby County Ethics Commission — the body legally charged with holding public officials accountable — has not met in years, including a stunning seven-year period leading up to 2025. The cause? A lack of quorum due to unfilled seats. This was no accident — it was by design. While everyday Memphians are held to the letter of the law, the political elite engineered a deliberate ethics vacuum, silencing one of the few statutory tools designed to root out government misconduct.
This brazen defiance directly violates Tenn. Code Ann. § 8-17-102, which mandates every county to establish an ethics policy and enforcement mechanism in compliance with state guidelines. Shelby County has failed both in policy and in practice. The Board of Commissioners — the very body responsible for appointing members to the Ethics Commission — simply refused to do so. Whether out of cowardice or complicity, their inaction allowed the commission to collapse, leaving no watchdog to monitor their own actions. This is the same County Commission that doled out millions in ARPA and violence prevention grants to politically connected nonprofits — including those run by friends, donors, and even convicted criminals — with no ethical oversight whatsoever.
The optics are damning. In Haiti, a failed state, there is no functioning ethics system. In Memphis and Shelby County, we’ve copied the playbook. The dysfunction of the Shelby County Ethics Commission is not a bureaucratic oversight — it’s a criminal dereliction of duty. In a city and county plagued by violence, poverty, and mistrust, political corruption is gasoline on the fire. With no ethics commission, no enforcement, and no consequences, corruption is not just tolerated — it’s institutionalized.
Duplication and Deceit: The Two-Headed Beast
Memphis and Shelby County suffer from one of the most dysfunctional governmental duplications in the United States. The same services are offered by both governments—housing, health, law enforcement—but with separate budgets, bureaucracies, and leaders. This dual structure has become fertile ground for grift.
What’s worse? Corrupt officials are taking advantage of both paychecks simultaneously, collecting dual incomes while delivering half the service.
Memphis needs to follow the model of other consolidated governments — like Nashville-Davidson County — and adopt a unified charter. It’s time to eliminate duplication, streamline services, and — most importantly — cut off the oxygen supply to corruption.
Friends with Benefits: No Bid, No Oversight, Inside Mayor Young’s Grant Scheme for Insiders
Meanwhile, Mayor Young’s insiders secure nonprofit grants and or contracts through a process that unconstitutionally designed to bypasses public bidding.
The common pattern is disturbing:
- An inside player starts a nonprofit.
- They apply for crime-reduction or community grants when they have never won legitimate open competition grants.
- No RFP (Request for Proposals) is issued.
- They get the funds.
- No oversight is enforced.
- Repeat.
Federal guidelines mandate competitive bidding for such programs — but these requirements are routinely ignored.
One Government, One Solution: Charter Relinquishment Now
It’s time for Memphis to give up its city charter. Bold, yes — but necessary.
The current structure breeds corruption, encourages self-dealing, and ensures that no one is truly held accountable. Consolidating city and county governments into one unified structure would allow for better oversight, eliminate duplicated salaries, and restore voter trust.
It would also prevent corrupt leaders from hiding behind jurisdictional confusion while simultaneously collecting from two payrolls.
The Final Word: What Would Donald Trump Do?
President Donald J. Trump has ignited a bold and historic effort to reclaim Memphis streets from the grip of violence by launching the Memphis Safe Streets Initiative — a federal task force deploying the FBI, DEA, Homeland Security, U.S. Marshals, the Tennessee National Guard, 300 Tennessee Highway Patrol troopers, and key personnel from the Department of Justice and Health and Human Services.
This unprecedented show of federal force is a godsend for a city crying out for help. But let us be clear: President Trump should not have to do it all. The same urgency he has shown on Memphis streets must be matched with equal force by our state leaders at 125 North Main and 160 North Main — the heart of corruption in Memphis and Shelby County government.
It’s time for the Tennessee Comptroller’s Office and the TBI to dig deep into city and county contracts, grant-making, tree trimming, and the complete failure to enforce ethical standards through a state mandated ethics commission.
Our state leaders, legislators, and governor must rise to the moment with subpoenas, audits, and criminal investigations. And if local corruption continues to thrive, then the General Assembly must consider legislation to eliminate the City of Memphis altogether and create a single Shelby County government — just like Nashville-Davidson. No more duplication of services. No more overlapping bureaucracies. No more double taxes. No more hiding places for crooks in public office. If we want real reform, we don’t just clean up Memphis — we shut it down and drain the swamp completely – that’s what Donal Trump would do.
For more on Memphis and Shelby County corruption, read Joe Kent’s dynamic investigative report.
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